Brand Safety: Domain and App Targeting Lists

For the complete campaign setup process, refer to the Campaign Setup Guide.

Overview

Step 5 of the Line Item setup wizard lets you control where your ads appear at the domain and app level. While Campaign-level brand safety presets (IAS, DoubleVerify) apply broad content verification, this step gives you granular control over individual websites and apps — using targeting lists you create at the advertiser level.

Targeting lists are advertiser-level assets. You create them once and reuse them across every campaign and line item under that advertiser. Each list is either an allowlist (ads only appear on listed domains/apps) or a blocklist (ads appear everywhere except listed domains/apps).

Web Environments — Domain Targeting

For Display and Video line items running on web inventory, you can apply a Domain Targeting List:

• Allowlist — restricts ad delivery to only the domains in the list. Best for premium brand safety where you want full control over placements.
• Blocklist — excludes the listed domains while keeping all other inventory eligible. Best for broad reach campaigns with specific exclusions.

A global blocklist template is applied automatically alongside your selection, providing baseline protection against known low-quality domains.

Each domain in a list carries a bid multiplier (0.1× to 10.0×) that adjusts your base bid for that domain — letting you prioritise high-value sites without creating separate line items.

To create and manage domain lists, see Domain Targeting Lists.

App Environments — App Targeting

For In-App line items, you can apply an App Targeting List instead:

• Allowlist — ads appear only inside the listed apps.
• Blocklist — ads appear in all apps except the listed ones.

App lists support Google Play, Apple App Store, and Microsoft Store applications, including CTV streaming apps. Each app carries its own bid multiplier.

IAB Content Categories are not available for app environments — app targeting lists are the primary brand safety lever for in-app campaigns.

To create and manage app lists, see App Targeting Lists.

IAB Content Categories

Available for web environments only, Content Categories let you include or exclude entire content verticals based on the IAB taxonomy:

• Include — target specific categories (e.g., only show ads on "Business & Industry" or "Technology & Computing" content).
• Exclude — block categories you want to avoid (e.g., exclude "Online Communities" or "Sensitive Social Issues").

Content category targeting is free of charge and works alongside your domain targeting list. Categories are applied at the domain/URL level, so they complement rather than replace domain lists.

How Targeting Lists Are Applied

When you reach Step 5 in the Line Item wizard, select a targeting list from the dropdown. The available lists are filtered by type:

• Web line items show domain lists only.
• In-App line items show app lists only.

Applying a targeting list is a full replacement — it overwrites any existing domain or app targeting on that line item.

You can also apply targeting lists outside the setup wizard from the Advertiser > Targeting Lists table using the Apply action, which lets you select a campaign and line item directly.

Quick Reference